Water babies master the pool

BANGALORE: One-year-old Sharon Nicole is yet to take her first shaky steps on ground, but she’s already learnt swimming strokes lying in her dad’s arms in the pool, and plays with toys floating around her.
Sharon is a member of the growing community of toddler swimmers in the city, who can be seen in action at St Joseph’s Indian High School pool every weekend.
Bangalore’s own infant swimming programme, the first-ever in the country, which began in 2007, has caught the imagination of young parents, with the number of enrolments going up every day.
“Baby swimming is very popular in European countries, and also the US. The trend is catching on with young couples in Bangalore too,” says former national swimmer Satish Kumar, who did a certification course in infant swimming from a Florida-based institute.
The training — which includes activities such as walking up and down the width of the pool, rotating the babies with their neck up and other lateral movements — begins once they get acclimatized.
Reluctant learners may howl their lungs out, but are lulled by familiar rhymes and the movement of toys. “It’s just a matter of time. They start loving it once they realize it’s fun,” said Satish, who currently trains around 30 babies in the 1-3 age group.
While most parents believe that learning to swim early makes the child independent, others feel it helps develop their overall personality and immune system.
Raghu Shenoy enrolled his daughter Anya at the academy when she was just 18 months old, purely on safety grounds.
“There is a pool close to my office. Whenever Anya comes there, she sets off towards it. So I thought it better she learns swimming for her own safety,” Raghu said.
“One year of training taught Anya how to float and walk in the pool. Now, whenever we go swimming, I put her in the baby pool, and don’t need to worry,” he said.
Thanushree, mother of Aryan, 2, feels swimming breaks the monotony in life. “It gives my son a break. It’s an outing, and he enjoys the exercises.”
Infant swimmers also develop a special bond with their parents, says Satish. “Research in the US has shown that infant swimming helps improve the parent-child bond. When you are in water, you need help from your parents. The relationship grows strong even when you are out of the pool,” he said.
Normally, babies are able to float on their own after 16 sessions of half-an-hour each. But many parents encourage their children to continue training to become competitive swimmers. Thus, Sharon’s sister Dia, 3, is unofficially the youngest competitive swimmer in the state.